At this point, it is no secret that Luka Doncic wanted to both start and finish his career with the Dallas Mavericks; in fact, he was so upset he had been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in February that he threw his phone when he heard the news, as was revealed in an interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews on Friday.
Such a reaction was not meant to be a knock on the Lakers, mind you; Doncic just really loved Dallas, and he hoped to stay with the team long term. But things have now changed. And it would seem that Luka, following a stellar regular season debut with L.A., would like to stick around La La Land for the foreseeable future.
Whether the 26-year-old Doncic would stay in Los Angeles has been a question since the trade went down. Most teams would want him, so it's not like he wouldn't have his pick should he prefer somewhere else. And his deal is up at the end of the 2026-27 season, though he could opt out at the end of the next. But asked flat out (or rather prompted for an answer) by Andrews during Friday's interview, Doncic pretty clearly put any speculation to bed.
"Staying in Los Angeles is what you want to do," Andrews half-asked, half-said, to which Doncic clearly replied,"Yes."
Watch that below:
Luka Doncic with @malika_andrews about being a Los Angeles Laker and playing with LeBron James 👀
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 18, 2025
"I mean, it's LeBron." 😅 pic.twitter.com/H4UssF3XSk
Doncic also briefly commented on Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison during the conversation, describing the "way he's talking right now" as "sad."
"I never say anything bad about him. And I just want to move on," he continued. "The fans, my ex-teammates always keep it hard—it's time for me to move on from that."
All in all, this wasn't an easy split for Doncic. But he has handled it like a champ, and could very well have the Mavericks wishing they could get him back. For all intents and purposes, he won the breakup.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luka Doncic Didn’t Hesitate When Asked If He Wants to Stay With Lakers Long-Term.
